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Posted by Mike Florio on September 10, 2008, 9:14 p.m.
Multiple sources tell us that Bengals receiver Chad Johnson could keep his new surname — Ochocinco — for only one year.

One source says that Johnson has planned all along to use the name change as a one-season stunt. Apparently, the prospect of limiting the alternate moniker to one year also could help the NFL, Johnson, and Reebok resolve that matter of roughly $800,000 worth of unsold “C. Johnson” jerseys.

If Johnson will be “Ocho Cinco” for only a year, Reebok can put the “C. Johnson” shirts in mothballs and then wait until 2009 to put them back on shelves, when Chad Johnson is “C. Johnson” again.

In the interim, Reebok can sell a bunch of “Ocho Cinco” jerseys to unsuspecting suckers who think that Johnson will be “Ocho Cinco” for the rest of his career.

The only problem with this approach? The judge who granted the request to change the name might not be happy to hear that it was a sideshow gag. So when Johnson tries to explain next year that he has had a genuine change of heart and that he wants his given name back, the judge might politely tell Mr. Ochocinco that he’s full of crap.

For now, we’re told that the one-season duration of the name change is a possibility, but not definite. That said, it’s definitely a mess.